Cathal BarryHealthy Living with Cathal Barry
The importance of drinking enough water every day really cannot be stressed enough. I was heartened by a recent study that revealed parents are increasingly making healthier choices for their children, ensuring they drink more water and cutting out sugary drinks.
Research by Safefood found that last year the consumption of water at mealtimes went up by 7% to 38%.
In 2013 around 45% of children drank a fizzy drink once a day or more, but last year this dropped to 40%.
The research was carried out to coincide with the first year of Safefood’s three-year campaign to tackle the everyday habits which can lead to childhood obesity.
Drinking water is absolutely essential to good health for every part of our body. Our bodies are composed of about 60% water and the functions of these bodily fluids include circulation, digestion, absorption and transportation of nutrients.
Lack of water can lead to dehydration, a condition that occurs when you don’t have enough water in your body to carry out normal functions. Even mild dehydration can drain your energy and make you feel tired.
Every day you lose water through your breath, perspiration, urine and bowel movements. For your body to function properly, it’s essential to replenish its water supply by consumption.
Sharper memory
So what are the benefits of drinking more water? Where do I begin? A sharper memory, a more stable mood and better motivation has been linked to people who are well hydrated. Not drinking enough water can result in a reduced oxygen flow to the brain, so adequate water will mean better brain power.
When you are dehydrated, your heart muscles need to work much harder to pump blood and get enough oxygen to all your cells, as dehydration lowers blood volume.
Drink enough water and you will perform everyday exercise more easily.
Being hydrated will help to lubricate your joints. Water helps to hydrate muscles and when muscle cells do not have enough fluids they do not work and perform as well.
If your skin is very dehydrated it will become much less elastic and appear much more dry and wrinkled. This can be easily remedied with increased hydration.
To function effectively, kidneys need enough water or else toxins can build up in the body.
Kidneys do an important job in ridding the body of toxins and cleansing it but need enough fluid to do this.
One of the major causes for headaches is dehydration.
This is because the lack of water leads to reduced blood and oxygen flow to the brain. As soon as you feel a headache coming on, try drinking a cool glass of water. If the headache is caused by dehydration, drinking water can ease or cure it within minutes.
So, as you can see, the health benefits really are endless! Ditch the fizzy drinks and have a glass of water instead!